Thai-Cambodia border fighting enters fourth day
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
PHUM SARON, (Thailand), Feb 7 (agencies): Cambodian and Thai troops have exchanged fire in a disputed border area for a fourth consecutive day.
Artillery and machine gun fire was heard around the 11th-Century Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia says has already been damaged in the fighting.
At least five people were killed in clashes over the weekend and thousands of civilians have fled the area.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on both sides to "exercise maximum restraint".
This is the worst fighting between the two neighbours in years. The clashes have claimed the lives of two soldiers and a civilian from Cambodia, one Thai soldier and a Thai civilian. However the two countries' media has reported differing casualty figures.
The Cambodian government says a Thai bombardment has damaged a wing of the ancient temple - a claim the Thais have not reacted to.
Thai and Cambodian troops clashed for a fourth straight day Monday over a disputed border area surrounding a 900-year-old mountaintop temple, deepening political uncertainty in Bangkok and prompting Cambodia to urge UN intervention.
Several hours of shelling and machine gun fire subsided at around 11 a.m. (0400 GMT), creating an uneasy peace in the 4.6-sq-km (two-sq-mile) contested area around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple claimed by both Southeast Asian neighbours.
Both sides blame the other for sparking clashes that have killed at least two Thais and three Cambodians since Friday and unleashed nationalist passions in Bangkok, energising "yellow shirt" protesters demanding Thailand's government step down.
In Phum Saron, an evacuated village in Thailand's Si Sa Ket province where Cambodian artillery struck several homes and a school Sunday, Thai soldiers guarded buildings and said it was unclear if more fighting loomed. The Thai government said 30 Thai soldiers and 4 villagers had been wounded so far.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the Security Council to convene an urgent meeting, accusing Thailand of "repeated acts of aggression" that have killed Cambodians and caused a wing of the temple to collapse.
Meanwhile: "A wing of our Preah Vihear Temple has collapsed as a direct result of the Thai artillery bombardment," a commander based near the 900-year-old temple was quoted as saying by Cambodia's Press and Quick Reaction Unit (PRU) of the Office of the Council of Ministers.
"The Thai army began shooting at us first, we are taking self- defense and retaliatory measures, now," the commander said, stressing that the Thais had not honored the ceasefire of Saturday.
Artillery and machine gun fire was heard around the 11th-Century Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia says has already been damaged in the fighting.
At least five people were killed in clashes over the weekend and thousands of civilians have fled the area.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on both sides to "exercise maximum restraint".
This is the worst fighting between the two neighbours in years. The clashes have claimed the lives of two soldiers and a civilian from Cambodia, one Thai soldier and a Thai civilian. However the two countries' media has reported differing casualty figures.
The Cambodian government says a Thai bombardment has damaged a wing of the ancient temple - a claim the Thais have not reacted to.
Thai and Cambodian troops clashed for a fourth straight day Monday over a disputed border area surrounding a 900-year-old mountaintop temple, deepening political uncertainty in Bangkok and prompting Cambodia to urge UN intervention.
Several hours of shelling and machine gun fire subsided at around 11 a.m. (0400 GMT), creating an uneasy peace in the 4.6-sq-km (two-sq-mile) contested area around the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple claimed by both Southeast Asian neighbours.
Both sides blame the other for sparking clashes that have killed at least two Thais and three Cambodians since Friday and unleashed nationalist passions in Bangkok, energising "yellow shirt" protesters demanding Thailand's government step down.
In Phum Saron, an evacuated village in Thailand's Si Sa Ket province where Cambodian artillery struck several homes and a school Sunday, Thai soldiers guarded buildings and said it was unclear if more fighting loomed. The Thai government said 30 Thai soldiers and 4 villagers had been wounded so far.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on the Security Council to convene an urgent meeting, accusing Thailand of "repeated acts of aggression" that have killed Cambodians and caused a wing of the temple to collapse.
Meanwhile: "A wing of our Preah Vihear Temple has collapsed as a direct result of the Thai artillery bombardment," a commander based near the 900-year-old temple was quoted as saying by Cambodia's Press and Quick Reaction Unit (PRU) of the Office of the Council of Ministers.
"The Thai army began shooting at us first, we are taking self- defense and retaliatory measures, now," the commander said, stressing that the Thais had not honored the ceasefire of Saturday.